I've had my 85 fiero 2m4 5spd for about a year now and have always had some engine and electrical quirks and haven't been able to fix them so I thought I'd see if anyone had some advice. Ever since I've had the car there has been an electrical leak somewhere that will drain my battery down. Not overnight but it takes about 4 days of no driving to go dead. I've installed a battery cut off switch to ignore the problem but if there is a certain part I should check or procedure, I would greatly appreciate advice.

Also, whenever I start it up, there is a horrendous squeal from the alternator belt. It'll stop once I put it in reverse and roll the car back and fourth a little bit. While it's squealing I have no power output from the alternator and then soon as it stops my lights brighten. If I sit and idle with the lights and wipers or any other power using feature the squeal starts again and won't stop until I turn off all of the accessories... Very annoying at night, I have to pull over and turn my lights off. I have been through 4 belts because if I ignore it, the belt starts smoking after about 30 seconds and a few miles down the road it'll break.

I have changed out the alternator, had someone replace some frayed wiring, and cleaned the pullies and got a new belt. The belt is aftermarket and I do have a small oil leak that gets on the pullies but even right after I cleaned them off the belt still squealed. So any advice would be greatly appreciated!

I also have the belt properly tensioned so that is not the problem either, sadly.

For the belt oil on the pulley seem like the problem unless it is miss aligned with the other pulleys. Since you replaced the belt and alt and had it tightened that seems like the only thing it could be.

I have heard of headlight motors draining batteries, they continue to try and close even after closed, you coudl disconnect their power and see if it still drains. Do you have an after market radio? Thats another common drain.

Thank you, I'll check out the headlight units. I do not have an aftermarket radio yet so that's not a problem there. And the oil leak is small but annoying so I think I will try making a metal guard to go around the belts that keeps the oil off of them. Does that sound like a solution? Besides fixing the leak that is.

Welcome to the Forum!

As much as you try to clean oil off of a pulley, there is still a little bit there to cause problems. Oil gets into the belt and it continues to slip.

The best way to chase down the drain is to get a meter on at the battery and start pulling fuses. Be sure to disconnect any light bulbs that may be on with the door or trunk open, and make sure everything is off.

For the belt squeal I would recommend a Gates belt. I have had issues in the past with other brands squealing and as soon as I put a Gates on it stopped. The last time it happened the parts store did not have a Gates for my vehicle so used whatever brand they had and it squealed so I had them order a Gates and returned the other when it came in put the Gates on = squeal gone. Also the alternator bearings could be going bad and have some resistance when cold so the belt is slipping. This is not unusual for a vehicle that has sat for some time.

For the electrical, If you can monitor a current draw off the battery, when car is off, start pulling fuses until the current draw stops. If you can't monitor current draw start pulling fuses when you let it sit for a couple days to see which fuse resolves the issue when pulled. This will at least help you narrow it down to a circuit. As mentioned previously it is likely the headlight motor so I would start by pulling that fuse. This is what happened to me. When I put the battery charger on I could actually see the current draw change when I pulled the headlight fuse. If you can't tell by this method pull one of the battery terminals and put a current meter in line with that battery terminal and cable. ONLY do that with the vehicle OFF and ignition switch OFF. Most current meters can only handle about 2amps.

[This message has been edited by Georelle (edited 07-31-2014).]

Want to fix it only one more time?

http://www.rodneydickman.com/IdlerPulleyKit.html



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Double the wrap on the alternator pulley.

[This message has been edited by phonedawgz (edited 07-31-2014).]